Cape Town – A weekend of violence on the Cape Flats has left two men dead in separate shooting incidents in Leonsdale, Elsies River. The incidents, believed to be gang-related, have further strained already tense relations within the community.
The first shooting occurred on Saturday morning at approximately 8:30 am in Bourne Road, Leonsdale. A 19-year-old man was shot in the left side of his head.
Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk confirmed the incident, stating: “SAPS members received a complaint of a shooting incident at the mentioned address and on arrival on the scene, they found a 19 year old male who sustained a gunshot wound to the left side of his head. The victim received medical attention on the scene by the paramedics, thereafter he was transported to a nearby hospital for further treatment. The motive is believed to be gang related.”
Tragically, the young man succumbed to his injuries and died later at the medical facility.
Later that same day, at around 9 pm, another shooting took place in Lew Mews. This time, a 29-year-old man was fatally shot, also believed to be a victim of gang violence.
According to Captain Van Wyk: “SAPS members received a complaint of shooting in Leonsdale, upon arrival at the mentioned address they found a male laying on his back with a gunshot wound to his head. Motive is believed to be gang related.”
These killings follow another violent incident on Thursday night in Old Crossroads, Nyanga, where two women, aged 20 and 22, were murdered in a mass shooting. Three men were also injured in that attack.
Captain Van Wyk confirmed that Nyanga police are investigating two counts of murder and three attempted murders following the shooting, which occurred at approximately 11:35 pm at a premises on the corner of Sonwabile and Stulo Road, Old Crossroads Nyanga.
The recent surge in gang-related violence has prompted a strong response from the South African Police Service (SAPS). However, no arrests have been made in connection with the Elsies River shootings.
Adding to the challenges, Captain Van Wyk has announced that the SAPS emergency number, 10111, is currently experiencing outages in large parts of the Cape Peninsula.
“Technicians are attending to the problem and lines are expected to be fully operational soon. We apologise for the inconvenience caused by the outage,” he added.
In the interim, Captain Van Wyk has urged the public to contact their nearest police station directly if they require emergency assistance.
Police are appealing to anyone with information about these incidents to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or use the mobile application MySAPS anonymously. The investigation is ongoing, and authorities are urging anyone with information to come forward and assist in bringing the perpetrators to justice.
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